Kandahar is a ghost town

Kandahar is a ghost town, braced for the next suicide bomb. Streets are all but empty of vehicles, foreign aid offices are reduced to skeleton crews and shoppers hurry home before dark. Many residents say they hate and fear the Taliban fighters, who occupy villages, demand food and vehicles, sabotage summer grape harvests, burn down girls' schools and execute district administrators as spies. But people there also express deep disappointment in the Karzai government, saying it has failed to bring security or services. They also resent the foreign military forces that have raided their homes and bombed their villages and yet have been unable to stop the insurgents. Last month, the region's military command passed from the United States to NATO, but residents of Kandahar are skeptical that the new troops can do any better. "The Taliban keep appearing from nowhere, and we are not sure if NATO will be strong enough to defeat them," said Fariba Ahmad, 32, a member of parliament from Kandahar, who said she must cover with a veil now to protect herself on the street. "People feel so hopeless and frustrated with the government that some support the Taliban, because they have nowhere else to turn." The danger is much greater outside this provincial capital, especially in districts such as Panjwai, a grape-growing area about 18 miles west, which has been the scene of near-constant fighting all summer. Many families fled the district in May after a fierce battle between Taliban and pro-government forces led to a US air strike that killed 16 civilians as well as insurgents. "The Taliban told us to leave or we would be killed, and then the American bombs destroyed everything. I am angry at both of them," said Shah Bibi, 55, whose family escaped Panjwai on tractors and now occupies a ruined mud compound in the city, without water or electricity.